David Orkin

Housing To make housing more affordable, David will fully fund NYCHA, expand the Housing Access Voucher Program, and advance the Social Housing Development Authority Act and Jobs and Housing Act to build permanently affordable, union-built, tenant-governed housing while creating good jobs. Finally, David will strengthen Good Cause Eviction protections statewide. Immigration David will be a champion for immigrant justice in Albany, as he has been for his entire professional life. He will fight to pass the New York for All Act in its entirety – including provisions to ban informal cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE – and work to enforce the recently passed Dignity Not Detention Act to stop the funneling of our neighbors into detention centers. Healthcare In Albany, David will fight for a healthcare agenda that works for care workers and patients alike, putting the needs of the many over profit for the few. He’ll join the fight for the New York Health Act to create universal healthcare for all New Yorkers statewide, and pass Coverage for All to ensure all low-income New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status, can access coverage in the meantime. Immigration We need to protect our immigrant neighbors from ICE. I’ve seen firsthand how immigration enforcement destroys families and tears our community apart. Working with immigrant justice movements, we must expand local sanctuary protections and challenge federal practices that target our neighbors. Taxes / Budget We need to pass a strong Tax the Rich package. Our district is starved of the public resources we need for childcare, housing, transit, and healthcare, while the ultra-rich and corporations continue to accumulate the enormous wealth they use to wield outsized political influence. Wages / Job Benefits We need to strengthen labor protections for low-income workers. Many of the most exploited workers in our district can’t access basic rights and safety on the job. I’ll continue my fight to ensure all workers can organize, win fair wages, and hold employers accountable. Housing David knows that housing is a human right. In Albany, he will fight to expand Good Cause Eviction, closing the loopholes that leave millions of tenants unprotected. To protect tenants from predatory landlords, David will pass the New York State Right to Counsel Act so no tenant faces housing court alone. Wages / Job Benefits In Albany, David will pass the EmPIRE Worker Protection Act so that workers and labor unions can directly recover unpaid wages from employers, instead of having to rely on the understaffed and over-capacity Department of Labor. He’ll fight to raise the minimum wage to $30 by 2030, and will fight for gig and app-based workers by establishing an hourly minimum wage and better labor protections, like anti-retaliation and just cause termination. Environment / Energy In the State Assembly, David Orkin will take immediate steps to make energy more affordable by working to freeze electric and gas rates, banning utility shutoffs during the summer, and expanding reimbursement requirements during blackouts. He’ll fight climate change by restoring the full CLCPA and implementing the Build Public Renewables Act to build more publicly owned, nonprofit, renewable energy sources using union labor, and fund upgrades to make our schools both healthier and greener. Environment / Energy David will make energy more affordable by passing the NY HEAT Act to end subsidies for fossil fuel expansion and lower utility caps for low-income households. He’ll fight to freeze electric and gas rates, ban utility shutoffs during the summer, and expand reimbursements during blackouts. Infrastructure / Transportation David will fight to close the digital divide by securing ConnectAll grants for AD-38, which will fund affordable broadband infrastructure, digital literacy resources, and access to devices. Infrastructure / Transportation In Albany, David will use his vote on the state budget to force the MTA to give AD-38 residents better, faster, more reliable transit options. He’ll fight to pass the Fix the MTA Act to freeze fares, expand the Free Bus pilot program, and use his bully pulpit to fight for 5-minute rush-hour headways on the M and J trains, the same standard riders on the L train already enjoy.